Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A strict party-line vote Tuesday sent proposed gay-marriage legislation to the Democrat-controlled Illinois Senate floor for the second time in a month. [ Read more → ]

CHICAGO — Legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Illinois is expected to come up in a Senate committee meeting Tuesday and could see a floor vote on Valentine's Day. [ Read more → ]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said he wants to pass same-sex marriage legislation on Valentine's Day. [ Read more → ]

CHICAGO — Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Monday that the timing is right to legalize same-sex marriage, providing a glimpse of what's ahead in the spring legislative session. [ Read more → ]

Activists from the Gay Liberation Network, a longtime Chicago-based direct action LGBT rights group, are calling on the local community to join them early next month in a protest against Cardinal Francis George, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, due to his vocal opposition against... [ Read more → ]

CHICAGO -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel has signed the "ILove Marriage" petition, pledging his support for legalizing same-sex marriage in Illinois, according to an announcement by Lambda Legal. "Mayor Emanuel has been on the forefront in advocating for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in... [ Read more → ]

A coalition consisting of fifty Illinois business leaders and organizations on Sunday joined in urging the state's General Assembly to pass the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which would grant gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry. The support represents a broad array... [ Read more → ]

Same-sex couples in Illinois now have an easier way to prove their civil union. Cook County Clerk David Orr unveiled wallet-sized civil union and marriage licenses Thursday, designed specifically for same-sex couples in a civil union or married couples with different last names. [c]Image courtesy... [ Read more → ]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The chief sponsors of legislation in that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois plan to reintroduce the bill Wednesday shortly after the start of the 98th General Assembly, according to one of its chief sponsors. [ Read more → ]

Nearly 200 people rallied at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Saturday to demand action on pending legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. [ Read more → ]

A coalition of lawmakers, activists and organizations backing a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois announced Thursday that despite intense efforts to pass the legislation in the lame duck session of the current General Assembly, a full vote on the bill may not happen. [ Read more → ]

SPINGFIELD, Ill. -- Legal same-sex marriages are one historic step closer to becoming law in Illinois. [ Read more → ]

Activists and lawmakers backing legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois are regrouping and recounting potential “yes” votes in the Illinois Senate after key members of the chamber reportedly said they will be absent from Thursday’s proceedings in the General Assembly’s lame duck session. [ Read more → ]

Consideration of a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois will no longer take place in a Senate committee of the Illinois General Assembly Wednesday night. [ Read more → ]

With support building for legislation that would give gay and lesbian couples in Illinois the freedom to marry, two prominent Republican Party leaders on Wednesday declared their support for the bill. [ Read more → ]

Illinois State Sen. Heather Steans (D) said Tuesday a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois will be heard by a Senate committee Wednesday night and a full Senate vote on a bill could come as early as Thursday. [ Read more → ]

Chicago's Cardinal Francis George officially entered the political debate over same-sex marriage on Tuesday, issuing a pastoral letter that urges parishioners to contact state legislators and voice their opposition to a planned bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. [ Read more → ]

With Illinois state lawmakers poised to consider a marriage equality bill in the lame duck session that begins Wednesday, Catholic bishops and other advocates of "traditional" are taking a new approach: same-sex marriage simply violates natural law. [ Read more → ]

As state lawmakers prepare to vote on a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, support has come in from coalitions of LGBT rights organizations, voters, hundreds of local clergy, President Obama — and now — from ABC’s Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson. [ Read more → ]

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged the Illinois General Assembly to vote in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in his home state. [ Read more → ]